Ultra-Wideband (UWB) signal localization using a vehicle-sized array

This paper describes a time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) based algorithm to localize short-pulse ultra-wideband (UWB) signals using a vehicle-sized multiple-antenna array. The algorithm uses a generalized cross-correlation method in conjunction with novel imaging and image combining techniques for computing estimates of the transmitter position. Experiments were performed in a suburban woods to obtain real data for testing the algorithms; this paper describes the experiments and presents the results. The examples show that small position changes of the transmit antenna or the receive antenna array provide different propagation paths for improving the chances of obtaining good localization estimates in scenarios with multipath and obstructions. Although the algorithm performance varies with the different scenarios examined, plots including histograms consistently show clustering of the localization estimates in the direction of the true transmitter locations.